1. Area of the Art
The present application is in the area of dental surgery and procedures and more particularly methods for minimizing pain, swelling and/or infection(s) following various dental procedures.
2. Description of the Background Art
Solid silver and silver compounds have a long history in human health. Silver implements (silverware) were long believed to have beneficial effects. The therapeutic use of silver dates at least as far back as 1647 when it was prescribed for the treatment of epilepsy. Syphilis was treated with silver arsepenamine (silver arsenic compound) in the early twentieth century, but the advent of antibiotics and related anti-microbial agents largely replaced the use of metals as anti-infective agents. However, ophthalmic silver nitrate solutions are still used to treat the eyes of neonates. Other topical silver-containing solutions are employed primarily for treatment of burn wounds or hard to heal sores. For example, topical silver sulfadiazine has been used in burn treatments for many years. Silver ions are also implanted into catheters and other medical devices to prevent local infection. There is considerable confusion concerning the form of silver that is effective (i.e., ionic [silver salt] versus elemental silver).
Certainly, silver salts such as silver nitrate are known to be antimicrobial. It also appears that silver metal, at least in fine particulate form can also be effective. This may be due to the extensive surface area of such particles or it may be due to the release of or transient presence of ionic silver on such particles. A colloid is a type of mixture where one substance is dispersed evenly throughout another. When solid particles such as silver particles are dispersed in a liquid the colloid or colloidal suspension is known as a sol (hydrosol when the liquid is water). Many colloids (including silver sol) have the appearance of true solutions. In a true colloid the dispersed particles have at least one dimension between one nanometer (1×10−9 meters) and one micrometer (1×10−6 meters). Such particles are normally invisible even to a normal light microscope. We have gone through this explanation because the marketplace is filled with various types of colloidal silver products. “Colloidal silver” generally refers to suspensions of colloidal silver (metal) particles. However, there is confusion because silver salts have also been compounded with colloidal protein (gelatin) which solutions are also called “colloidal silver;” clearly such a gelatin product is quite different from silver hydrosol—the materials used in the present invention.
Silver hydrosols at silver concentrations less than about 50 ppm are produced by electrolytic processes (see for example U.S. Pat. No. 6,214,299 which is incorporated by reference in its entirety). Silver hydrosols with higher concentrations of silver are generally produced chemically from silver salts. It is believed that such chemically produced silver particles have different physical and chemical properties than those produced electrolytically. Concentrations of electrolytic silver particles at five parts per million or higher have been found in credible studies to kill numerous species of infectious bacteria and other microorganisms while showing very low toxicity to human tissues. For details see U.S. Pat. No. 7,135,195 which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.